Priscilla Presley and Elvis Presley Used ‘Baby Talk’ to Communicate: ‘You Have to Have Your Own Language’
Few love stories are as iconic as the relationship between Elvis Presley and Priscilla. However, it was not without its challenges. Elvis’s home, Graceland, was where the king of rock and roll surrounded himself with family and friends. Therefore, Priscilla and Elvis had very little private time and had to use “baby talk” to communicate. Priscilla once said, “You have to have your own language” to have private conversations.
Priscilla Presley admits she and Elvis had their own love language
In the early 1960s, many women still subscribed to traditional roles in the home. Therefore it should come as no surprise that Priscilla pampered Elvis as the head of their household throughout their courtship.
She told People Magazine in 2021 that throughout their relationship, she “loved” making Elvis feel special in every way. However, that was sometimes difficult due to the number of people Elvis always had in and around his home. These included family, friends, and hangers-on.
“I was always ready to greet him at the door and pamper him,” she said. “I loved taking care of Elvis very much.”
She continued, “I loved tending to him. I loved feeding him.”
But the couple used their own love language when it came to private communication. She revealed, “We would baby talk because you have to have your own language when you have that many people around.”
Priscilla Presley acknowledged the life she shared with Elvis was ‘different’
Graceland estate in Memphis, TN, was unlike any other household. Life revolved around Elvis’ sleep and wake schedule, often meant being up all night and sleeping early parts of the day away.
However, it was a home filled with fun. Elvis loved good times with his family and getting into hijinks with his friends. Priscilla recalled those moments fondly, telling People Magazine that while others may not have understood Elvis’ ways, life was “good.”
“It was a good life. It was different, but it was ours,” Priscilla explained. “I truly cherish the great times. As you grow up, there are always fears and insecurities. But as you get older, you understand it all.”
Elvis Presley felt the need to ‘mold’ Priscilla into his ideal woman
In 1985, Priscilla Presley pulled back the curtain on her relationship with Elvis Presley in an essay published by People Magazine. She revealed details of Elvis’ desire to mold her into his ideal woman early in their relationship. Thus, the iconic black hair and heavy makeup she donned early on.
“Something in his Southern upbringing had taught him that the ‘right’ girl was to be saved for marriage. I was that girl,” she wrote.
“At the same time, he molded me into his woman. I wore the clothes, hairstyle, and makeup of his careful choosing,” Priscilla continued.
She wrote of the first time she and Elvis went to Las Vegas. “Armond, a hairdresser at the hotel, came in and spent nearly two hours creating my new look.”
Priscilla claimed the hairdresser “teased and twisted up my hair with one long curl falling in front of my left shoulder.” Following, he applied heavy eye makeup under Elvis’ direction.
Priscilla wore a very adult-looking brocade gown to please Elvis and finish the metamorphosis from schoolgirl to sultry woman. She wrote, “My transformation from an innocent teenager to a sophisticated siren was complete. I looked like one of the lead dancers in the Folies-Bergère.”
Priscilla and Elvis would marry in May of 1967 after living together at Graceland for four years. They would remain wed until 1973 and jointly raise their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, until Elvis’ 1977 death.
